Whaur Dae Ye Lie, My Faither?

by Karine Polwart

Whaur dae ye lie, my faither?
Whaur dae ye lie, my son?
Whaur dae ye lie, my ane true love?
When will the truth be won?

Oor friends, they came tae protect us
Oor friends, they bade us bide
Oor friends left us standing there naked
Wi' nae place left tae hide

Oor neighbors, they came wi a hundred year hate
Oor neighbors, they came wi guns
Oor neighbors, they came for oor menfolk
An they slew them, every one

I hae sought oot yer grave wi my mither
I hae sought oot yer grave in vain
I hae sought the bare banes o the truth and the men
Faither, whaur are ye lain?

I hae cried oot yer name tae the four winds
I hae cried oot yer name 'til the dawn
I hae cried in the arms o yer sister dear
Whaur dae ye lie, my son?

I hae dream'd o yer breath upon me
I hae dream'd o yer yellow hair
I hae dream'd o the sounds o yer dying, love
Whaur dae ye lie, my dear?

Words:
Bide: stay
Whaur: where

Karine wrote this song while she was a member of the group Malinky and it appears on their first album, Last Leaves, 1999. It is an example of her ability to tackle difficult subjects with insight and compassion.

It was inspired by the experience of women during the war in Bosnia-Herzogovina . In 1995, in the Bosnian town of Srebrenia, Serbian forces separated civilian men from women – under the eyes of the UN peacekeepers – and massacred the men, who were mainly older and infirm. The younger men who had escaped to the forest were hunted down and killed. Mass graves were later found.